After a disappointing 32nd in 2:16:44 at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, Jason Hartmann regrouped and finished fourth at the Boston Marathon in 2:14:31 last April. He’ll be back in Boston on April 15. The 6’ 3” Hartmann set his marathon best of 2:11:06 in Chicago in 2010 and won the 2009 Twin Cities Marathon in 2:12:09. He lives and trains in Boulder, Colorado. We talked before Sunday’s NYC Half, where he was ninth in a half-marathon PR of 1:01:51.

After the New York City Marathon that was never run, you haven’t raced until this NYC Half. Were you looking for some options?Jason Hartmann: I looked at potentially doing Cal International [in Sacramento] or Fukuoka [in Japan] or maybe even Houston down the line [in January], but I think the emotional letdown and training for a specific day just took a lot out of me, I just felt like it was the best decision to just shut it down and take a rest.

I took about two weeks off and slowly started to build back up. I didn’t start focusing on Boston until after the new year.

You came in fourth in Boston last April. The top three finishers get on the awards podium. What happens to you in terms of post-race recognition?JH: Well, just being a tall white guy, people tend to notice me a little more in comparison to people I race against. When I finished fourth, definitely, people acknowledged my performance. It wasn’t like I was hoisted above people’s shoulders like Rudy [the Notre Dame football player of movie fame] and carried off the field. The notoriety and stuff –- people were very happy to have an American finish that high, and in a lot of people’s eyes, probably a relatively unknown American. It definitely was life-changing.

Do you feel like you’re especially suited for the Boston course?JH: I don’t know. It’s a difficult question. You train for a course, you put everything into it, and whatever the results are is what they’ll be. I like to think any course fits my profile, but on long straightaways and a strength course, I tend to do pretty well.

And there are a lot of rhythm changes required on the course. Are you okay with that?JH: I like to think so. But being a taller guy, too, if there are a lot of turns like on the Trials course, it’s probably a little more difficult for me. But I think Boston is a great course and has a great atmosphere.

Did you think your training segment going into Boston last year was better than it did been for other marathons?JH: When I stepped to the line, I had prepared myself the best I could, and I took comfort in knowing that and having complete faith in what I’m doing. I was pretty confident in where I was at.

Did you feel that way about November in New York?JH: I did. I felt better prepared for New York. But the thing with the marathon, too, is you could have a perfect build-up and be confident in where you’re at and it just depended on the day [race day]. I’ve had some great training leading up to a marathon and had a bad performance. There’s a relative unknown when it comes to the marathon. It’s 2:03 at the elite level to 2:30. There’s a lot that could go wrong in that amount of time.

Did things go bad for you early at the Marathon Trials?JH: It was about 17 or 18 miles. I kind of hit a rough spot and never really came out of it.

How are you feeling right now, a few weeks before going back to Boston?JH: I’ve done more mileage this time around. I’ve added some cross-training, two times a week on the Alter-G for 30 minutes and on the EFX [elliptical machine] on another day. And I’m doing about ten more miles a week than I’ve previously done. I’m varying between 130 and 135 miles a week.

Are you still coaching yourself?JH: Yeah, coaching myself. I’ll jump in with [Brad] Hudson’s group if they’re doing something similar to what I had prescribed for myself. We work together and I help those guys out.

Who’s in that group?JH: Fernando Cabada, Kenyon Neuman, Pat Rizzo. A few other guys. Zach Hines…. There’s a certain level of toughness that you gain when you’re the only one out there and you don’t have somebody patting you on the back, telling you how great you are. I enjoy the time by myself but I also enjoy the time with other people.

I’ve had great coaches in the past. I felt at my age –- I’m 31, approaching 32 -– that I just kind of wanted to do it on my own. I just felt like it was a good decision to leave my last coaching situation and just have complete responsibility for what I was doing. It was just kind of a point in my career.

It’s not that I didn’t expect Boston [coming in fourth] to happen, but it happened. There was potentially moving on from running after Boston [in 2012, if he hadn’t done well] and pursuing other things. Fortunately for me, I ran great and it allowed me to continue on.

When we talked before Boston last year, you pretty much said “if this one doesn’t work out, that’s it.”JH: Yeah. For a guy at my level, it’s very difficult to stay in the sport.

Sort of the A-minus level.JH: Yeah. It’s a top-heavy sport. The gap’s starting to grow a lot more. Unfortunately, you’ll probably see less guys sticking around in the sport. Guys are running a lot faster. Money’s very limited.

Does the profusion, internationally, of 2:05s and 2:06s make you think “maybe I should hang it up”?JH: All you can do is the best you can. You never know what happens. I don’t think anybody at the start line of Boston [in 2012] expected it to be 80-plus degrees. There’s a certain element of the day that just happens that’s out of your control.

How do I compete against guys who are running 2:05? I have to outstrategize and outsmart guys who are way faster. The race is going to play out the way it is, but just always kind of hold the line, hold the line, hold the line, and then boom, if they beat themselves, I’ll capitalize on the mistakes that they make, rather than me beating myself and making poor decisions off emotion.

Did the coaches you had usually give you a long-term program and tell you about the whole week, or would you sometimes show up to workouts not even knowing what was going to happen?JH: Well, for example, I worked with Jonesy [Steve Jones], someone I have a high amount of respect for. We wouldn’t find out our workouts until the day of. And that’s the way he did things, and I had lot of success under Jonesy. I also like a plan and direction, but that wasn’t Jonesy’s coaching style. And it worked for me, but I’m at a different point in my career now, too, trying to oversee everything and wear two hats and try to run well.

Jonesy was very simplistic in his coaching. There’s a great level of purity. When you’re in high school, you just train. There’s no thought process. You just do the work and you get the results and stuff. As get through the years of running, it becomes more of a business, and trying to put food on the table, and so you can lose a little bit of that purity. One thing I’ve taken from Jonesy is just trying to keep that high school innocence, that purity, and the reason why you do things.

Do you periodically have workouts in which you’re looking for certain times that can be a barometer of your fitness?JH: [Pauses] Yes and no. There are certain segments, leading into a race, where I like to take some confidence in the stopwatch or whatever. But I try not to control myself by a stopwatch. In a marathon, it’s a lot about how you feel at certain points and just being really in tune with what you’re doing.

Are you committed to running until 2016? Or how long?JH: Until April 15. And then I’ll reevaluate after that.